Yemeni Houthis Signal End To Attacks On Ships In The Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi rebels appear to have paused their attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire continues to hold in Gaza.

The Iran-backed group, which began its campaign of targeting vessels in late 2023, claiming support for Palestinians during Israel’s war on Gaza, hinted at a pause through a recently surfaced letter addressed to Hamas’s Qassam Brigades.

The undated letter, reportedly written by Maj. Gen. Yusuf Hassan al-Madani, the Houthi military’s chief of staff, was published online.

In the letter, al-Madani stated that the group was closely observing the situation in Gaza and warned that if hostilities resumed, the Houthis would relaunch military operations “deep inside the Zionist entity” and reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas.

The group has not officially announced the end of its campaign, but the letter gives the clearest indication so far that the attacks have stopped.

Since the start of their campaign, Houthi attacks have killed at least nine mariners, sunk four vessels, and caused severe disruptions to global trade through the Red Sea, where around $1 trillion worth of goods were moved annually before the conflict.

Scenes of the targeting and sinking of the Magic Seas ship, whose owner violated the Yemeni Armed Forces’ ban. pic.twitter.com/sD5H7gy6Ck

— Ahmed Hassan أحمد حسن زيد (@Ahmed_hassan_za) July 8, 2025

One of the latest attacks happened on 29 September when the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht was hit, killing one crew member and injuring another.

Although the Houthis claimed they were targeting ships linked to Israel or its allies, several of the vessels attacked had little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas war.

The disruption has had major economic consequences. The Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and generated about $10 billion in 2023, saw a sharp drop in traffic.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Egypt lost around $6 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the canal in 2024 due to the Houthi attacks.

While vessel traffic has slightly improved since the attacks paused, many ships still prefer to travel around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid potential risks in the region.

In September, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned that Israel would respond “sevenfold” to any Houthi attacks, following a drone strike on Eilat that injured 22 people.

The pause in Houthi attacks comes as a fragile ceasefire, brokered by the United States, in Gaza has remained in place since 10 October. Despite the truce, Israel has reportedly carried out several strikes, killing more than 240 Palestinians.

According to Gaza’s health authorities, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 69,182 Palestinians and injured over 170,700 since October 2023. Around 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, and about 200 were taken captive.

References: AP, Al Jazeera

Source: Maritime Shipping News